Summary Sentence:"Materials-Directed Myogenesis of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells and their Therapeutic Use" - Adam Engler, PhD, University of California, San Diego

Full Summary:The Stem Cell Engineering Center (SCEC) seminar series showcases enabling technologies and fosters new interdisciplinary and multi-investigator collaborations. The seminars are open to all faculty or trainees interested in stem cell engineering research.

Adam J. Engler, PhD, is an assistant professor of Bioengineering at UC San Diego and is affiliated with the Material Science and Biomedical Sciences Programs. He also is a resident scientist at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. His research focuses on how physical properties of the niche influence stem cell function and misregulate muscle function and heart performance during disease and aging. Engler earned his B.S.E. degree in bioengineering and a PhD in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics at the University of Pennsylvania in the lab of Dennis Discher, PhD. Engler then moved to Princeton University's Department of Molecular Biology as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the lab of Jean Schwarzbauer, PhD, where his work was funded by the National Cancer Institute. Engler is the 2008 recipient of the Rupert Timpl and Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Awards from the International Society for Matrix Biology and the Biomedical Engineering Society, respectively. He is also a 2009 NIH Innovator Award recipient, a 2010 Young Investigator Awardee from the Human Frontier Science Program, and 2013 DoD IDEA awardee for his work on the extracellular matrix and cancer stem cells.